Large area body shaping applicator

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus that affect vacuum to massage a volume of the skin and one or more types of skin treatment energies coupled to the massaged volume to treat the skin and subcutaneous adipose tissue and produce a desired treatment effect. The method and apparatus are based on coupling an array or a number of arrays being an assembly of skin treatment units with each skin treatment unit including a hollow cavity and a number of different energy to skin applying elements operative to receive skin treatment energy from a source of such energy and couple or apply the received energy to a treated segment of skin.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a non-provisional utility patent filed with the United StatesPatent Office under 35 USC §111(a) and 37 CFR 1.53(b) and claiming thepriority under 35 USC 119(e) of the provisional application that wasfiled with the United States Patent Office under 35 USC §111(b) on Jan.11, 2012 by the same inventors and assigned Ser. No. 61/585,340. PatentCooperation PCT/IL2009/000693 filed on Dec. 7, 2009 and bearing thetitle APPLICATOR FOR SKIN TREATMENT WITH AUTOMATIC REGULATION OF SKINPROTRUSION MAGNITUDE is incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNOLOGY FIELD

The large area body shaping applicator relates to the field of equipmentfor non-invasive aesthetic treatments.

BACKGROUND

Skin massage is a type of manipulation of superficial and deeper layersof skin and subcutaneous tissue layers. Massage involves acting on andmanipulating the skin with pressure. The skin may be manipulated,typically kneaded, manually or with mechanical aids. Whether the massageis done manually or with mechanical aids it is applied to a segment ofskin or tissue defined by the hands of the caregiver or the size of themechanical aids. The remaining segments of the skin are treated bymoving the hands or repositioning the mechanical aid across a largerskin segment. Target tissues may include muscles, tendons, adiposetissue and other segments of the skin and body. Because of the need toapply pressure to the skin and then repositioning the source of pressureduring the treatment (i.e., moving the therapist hands or mechanical aidto a different area of the body), massage is associated with asignificant amount of effort and attention that the caregiver has toapply.

Adipose tissue is frequently treated non-invasively by differentenergies coupled to the skin. Typical types of energies that may befound in use for skin treatment include ultra sound (US) energy, RadioFrequency (RF) energy, or radiation energy emitted by a source of lightor heat. The skin treatment energy is coupled to the skin by anapplicator. The size of the applicator defines to some extent thesegment of skin or tissue to which the skin treatment energy istransferred. In order to treat other skin segments, the applicator isrepositioned across a large segment of the skin and activated to coupletreatment energy to this segment of skin.

Different types of energy are frequently used for circumferencereduction, adipose tissue removal, and other cosmetic procedures whereapplication of skin treatment energy could bring a desired beneficialtreatment effect.

BRIEF SUMMARY

The present disclosure describes a method and apparatus, as well asvariant features and aspects thereof, to effectively utilize a vacuumpressure to massage a volume of the skin and one or more types of skintreatment energies coupled to the massaged volume to treat the skin andsubcutaneous adipose tissue and produce a desired treatment effect. Oneembodiment of the method and apparatus are based on coupling an array,or a number of arrays, as an assembly of skin treatment units with eachskin treatment unit including a hollow cavity and a number of differentenergy to skin applying elements that are configured to receive skintreatment energy from a source of such energy and couple or apply thereceived energy to a treated segment of skin.

Vacuum pressure is applied in a desired sequence to the cavities of theskin treatment units. Suction produced by the vacuum pressure drawsvolumes of skin into the cavities and, subsequently venting the cavitywith atmosphere or air releases the volumes of skin from the cavities. Avalve capable of switching between vacuum and atmosphere or a source ofair pressure facilitates evacuating air from the cavity to draw thevolume of skin therein and drawing air into the cavity so that thevolume of skin is released. The volumes of skin drawn and released aresmaller than the treated skin segment to which the array is applied. Thesequence of applying vacuum pressure and then releasing or reducing ofthe vacuum pressure generates a back and forth massaging movement of theskin segment tissue against the flared rims of the skin treatment units.The operational sequence of applying the vacuum pressure and thereleasing or reducing of the vacuum pressure in the cavities along withthe application of skin treatment energy to the volumes of skin canadvantageously produce various patterns of skin treatments andsubcutaneous movements.

Various embodiments of the disclosed method and apparatus couple skintreatment energy to the application/release of vacuum pressure during amassage treatment. Thus, embodiments of the method and apparatus operateto provide an automated massaging of a segment of skin either alone, orin conjunction with the application of skin treatment energy. Such skintreatment energy could be selected from a group of energy typesincluding, but not necessarily limited to light, RF, ultrasound,electrolipophoresis, iontophoresis and microwaves. Each of these energytype, combinations thereof and in some embodiments, maybe evenadditional and/or alternative energy types can be delivered to the skinby energy to skin applying elements. The energy to skin applyingelements could be located in one or more locations including inside thecavities, the flared rims of the cavities, separate units used inconjunction with the vacuum pressure apparatus or any combinationthereof.

The topography of a treated skin segment usually is not flat and thus,to conform the array to the topography of the treated skin segment eachof the skin treatment units of the array could have at least two degreesof rotational movement with respect to an adjacent unit. Additionally,each of the skin treatment units of the array could have at least twodegrees of translational movement with respect to an adjacent unit andskin treatment units connecting joints could allow stretching andtensioning of the array. For instance, the joints may allow movement ofthe element that connects two skin treatment units to each other and/or,the connecting element may be constructed of a material that can bestretched, such as a material with some level of flexibility or that haselastic like characteristics. The array itself could have either a fixedor variable length. The array could include a mount that has a variablelength, the mount sized and shaped to couple and fix the array to atreated skin segment. In other embodiments, the skin treatment units canhave any of the following, or combinations thereof, movementcapabilities: two directional rotation, three directional rotation, full360 degree rotational, vertical movement (up and down as in telescopingmotion), etc. In addition, in some embodiments, the skin treatment unitsmay be mounted on a flexible substrate thereby allowing the flared rimsto settle on the non-uniform surface of the skin treatment area.

According to an example the skin treatment units are made of thermallyconductive material and are operative together with the massaging actionto reduce or eliminate hot spots and homogenize skin treatment energyacross the large treated skin segment distribution. A control unitcontrols delivery of different types of skin treatment energy that couldbe delivered in pulse or continuous mode according to a skin treatmentprotocol. The control unit synchronizes the delivery of energy with theapplication of vacuum pressure to create a massaging skin movementcaused by vacuum. The control unit is operative to control thealternating sequence of vacuum application to the cavities of the skintreatment units as well as the air pressure that according to oneexample, could be applied to release the skin drawn into the cavity.

GLOSSARY

The term “skin” as used in the present disclosure includes the outerskin layers such as stratum corneum, dermis, epidermis, and the deepersubcutaneous layers such as adipose tissue.

The term “skin treatment energy” as used in the present disclosure meansany one of energies facilitating achievement of a desired skin treatmenteffect. Such energy could be a mechanical energy, a thermal energy, anda mix of them.

The term “energy to skin applying element” as used in the presentdisclosure means an element operative to receive skin treatment energyfrom a source of such energy and couple or apply the received energy toa treated segment of skin. An electrode applying RF energy to skin, aultrasound transducer, a mechanical element, a source of light could besuch elements.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Non-limiting examples of the present disclosure are described in thefollowing description, read with reference to the figures attachedhereto and do not limit the scope of the claims. In the figures,identical and similar structures, elements or parts thereof that appearin more than one figure are generally labeled with the same or similarreferences in the figures in which they appear. Dimensions of componentsand features illustrated in the figures are chosen primarily forconvenience and clarity of presentation and are not necessarily toscale. Referring to the attached figures:

FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of an apparatus according to anexample;

FIG. 2 is a simplified plan view of an array of skin treatment unitsaccording to an example;

FIGS. 3A-3G, collectively referred to as FIG. 3, illustrate annon-limiting example of the adaptability of an array of skin treatmentdevices to the contour of target skin being treated.

FIG. 3A is a perspective view illustrating the stretching movement ofskin treatment units according to an example;

FIGS. 3B and 3C are simplified illustrations of an array of skintreatment units applied to a concave and a convex segment of skinaccording to an example;

FIGS. 3D and 3E are simplified illustrations of an array of skintreatment units applied to an uneven segment of skin according to anexample;

FIGS. 3F and 3G are simplified illustrations of an array of skintreatment units applied to an uneven segment of skin according to anexample;

FIG. 4 is simplified side view of a skin treatment unit according to anexample;

FIG. 5 is a simplified illustration of a skin treatment unit showing theunit cavity according to an example;

FIG. 6 is a simplified cross section of a skin treatment unit of FIG. 4according to an example;

FIG. 7 is a simplified illustration of a skin treatment unit showing theunit cavity according to an example;

FIG. 8 is a simplified illustration of a skin treatment unit showing theunit cavity according to an example;

FIGS. 9A and 9B, collectively referred to as FIG. 9, are simplifiedillustrations of RF electrode connections and operation according to anexample;

FIG. 10 is a schematic illustration of a subject that wears array 104according to an example;

FIG. 11 is a schematic illustration of a subject that wears a similararray according to an example;

FIG. 12 is a schematic illustration of a massaging action of an arrayaccording to an example; and

FIG. 13 is a schematic illustration of a massaging action of an arraycombined with application of skin treatment energy according to anexample.

DESCRIPTION

Skin treatment systems could include different units or applicatorsconfigured to massage skin including subcutaneous tissue. There could beunits or applicators configured to couple to the skin different energiessuch as ultra sound (US) energy, Radio Frequency (RF) energy, orradiation energy emitted by a source of light or heat. In general, inthe operation of the known existing treatment systems and devices, thesize of the skin treatment unit or applicator defines the segment ofskin or tissue size to which the treatment could be applied. Forexample, the size of a skin treatment unit could be 20×40 mm or 40×80mm. In order to treat other or additional skin segments the skintreatment unit is repositioned across a large segment of the skin andactivated to couple to this additional segment skin treatment energy.

Repositioning of the skin treatment unit requires a sensible effort onbehalf of the caregiver. It complicates his or her work and because theservice of providing a massage and/or providing other energy to skinapplication treatment sessions can take on the order of about 30 to 90minutes, the time absorbed by repositioning the skin treatment unitresults in decreases the treatment quality and efficiency.

The skin treatment across a large skin segment also becomes non-uniform,because it is difficult for the caregiver to keep accurate andconsistent skin treatment unit or applicator repositioning movement andtreatment timing over a large skin segment.

Repositioning of the skin treatment unit requires certain time and itdepends on the skills of the caregiver. Faster applicator repositioningcould to some extent improve homogeneity of the skin treatment resultsand reduce the treatment inefficiency, but the speed with which thecaregiver manually repositions the applicator could be insufficient toachieve proper skin treatment homogeneity. In addition to this to this,the efficiency and precision of the caregiver changes during the courseof the day or working shift and causes appearance of additionaltreatment artifacts. As a result, some skin segments are thus treateddifferently than other skin segments.

The possibility to provide a desired skin treatment protocol to a largesegment of skin could facilitate homogenous skin treatment energydistribution across a large skin segment. The energy could bemechanical, such as massage or skin stimulating or heating energy.Different skin massage and skin treatment energy application patternscould facilitate selective treatment of a large segment of skin. Theycould also release the caregiver from an effort related to displacementof a skin treatment device across the treated skin segment, trackingprevious skin treatment device location and determining its nextlocation.

Referring now to FIG. 1 there is shown a simplified plan view of anapparatus according to an example. Apparatus 100 includes a control unit104, an array 108 of individually controlled skin treatment units 112connected between them by a joint 114 facilitating relative displacementand rotation of one skin treatment unit with respect to an adjacentunit, and interconnection umbilical cable 116 connecting between array108 and control unit 104. It should be appreciated that the control unit104 can be a processing unit attached as described to the array 108 orcan be incorporated into the array 108 itself as a processing unit,hardware device, etc. Control unit 104 could incorporate one or moresources of vacuum, which could be vacuum pumps 120 and one or more airpressure pumps 124, and one or more skin treatment energy sources 128. Aprocessing units PU 132 such as a personal computer or any other deviceconsisting of hardware, firmware or processing capabilities could beoperative to govern operation of the sources of vacuum 120, air pressure124 and skin treatment energy sources 128. PU 132 could accepttemperature sensor 524 (FIG. 5) reading signal from each of skintreatment units 112 cavities 408 (FIG. 4 through FIG. 9), and controlaccording to the temperature sensor 524 reading energy sources thatsupply to each of skin treatment units 108 skin treatment energy. Adisplay 136 could display the treatment process progress and couldinclude a number of soft keys to set the skin treatment protocol.Alternatively a keypad or a keyboard could be used to set the skintreatment protocol. Both control unit 104 and array 108 could include apatient Emergency Button 140, facilitating instant stop of skintreatment procedure/s by the caregiver or by treated subject. Inaddition, although the control unit 104 is shown as a separate unitconnected by means of the umbilical cord 116, it will be appreciatedthat in some embodiments, the control functions can be on board thearray 108 with an interface to a vacuum source and air source or, theentire control unit 104, along with the vacuum source and air source,etc., may be incorporated into the array 108 as well as a combination ofany of these configurations as well as other anticipated configurations.In addition, the vacuum source and/or air source may be external andcontrolled/regulated by a control unit 104 that is mounted on the arrayand operates to control the amount of pressure applied to the cavitiesof the skin treatment units.

According to an example, control unit 104 includes a splitter card 144distributing and controlling activation of vacuum, air pressure, andskin treatment energies to each of the individually controlled skintreatment units 112 of array 108. The splitter card also acceptstemperature sensor reading signal from each of the cavities, andcontrols, according to the temperature sensor reading, energy sourcesthat supply skin treatment energy to each of skin treatment units 112.The distribution and activation of vacuum, air pressure, and skintreatment energies could follow a desired skin treatment protocol andactivate, as non-limiting examples, all of the skin treatment units 112,a group of skin treatment units 112, or selected skin treatment units112. Although shown as a single unit, each of the vacuum, air pressure,and skin treatment energy sources could include a plurality of vacuum,air pressure, and skin treatment energy sources. Emergency button 140communicates with splitter card 144 or PU 132 and activation of theemergency button 140 instantly discontinues supply of vacuum, airpressure, and skin treatment energies to all of the skin treatment unitsor applicators 112 of array 108.

According to an example, as best illustrated in FIG. 2, splitter card144 distributing and controlling activation of vacuum, air pressure, andskin treatment energies to each of array 108 of skin treatment units 112could be associated with the array 108. It could control the vacuum, airpressure, accept a temperature sensor reading signal from each of thecavities, and control according to the temperature sensor reading energysources that supply to each of skin treatment units 108 skin treatmentenergy. Associating splitter card 144 with array 108 could simplify theinterconnection umbilical cable 116. The distribution and activation ofvacuum, air pressure, and skin treatment energies could follow a desiredskin treatment protocol and the splitter card could activate all of skintreatment units 112, a group of skin treatment units 112, or selectedskin treatment units 112. In addition to this, a simpler controllercould be attached to each individual skin treatment unit 112. Emergencybutton 140 communicates with splitter card 144 and activation of theemergency button 140 can be configured to instantly discontinue supplyof vacuum, air pressure, and skin treatment energies to all of the skintreatment units or applicators 112 of array 108.

Splitter card 144 could include and additional PU (not shown),controlling the treatment processes performed by array 108. Suchprocesses could include switching between the application of vacuumpressure or air pressure, switching on and off a particular skintreatment energy supply, selecting between various skin treatment energysupplies, or delivery between the individually controlled skin treatmentunits, accepting of valve 604 (FIG. 6) signal, accepting temperaturesensor reading signals from each of the cavities, detection of theactuation of the emergency button and array release signals, and others.

A mount 208 is sized and shaped to couple and fix the array 108 to atreated skin segment. Mount 208 could be a belt type mount, such that atreated subject could wear array 108 when it is attached and fixed to asegment of skin. Although shown as a belt type, mount 208 could be inform of braces. In one example both belt type mount and braces could beimplemented. In yet another embodiment, the array 108 can beincorporated into a massage table or chair and allow a subject torecline on the table. In such an embodiment, the array 108 would conformto the shape of the subject's body in response to the gravitationalforce of the body against the array 108. In yet another embodiment, thearray 108 can simply be laid across the subject and be weighted suchthat sufficient pressure is applied to the array 108 to force it toconform to the subject's body. In yet another embodiment, the array 108can be incorporated into a wearable device, such as a jacket typedevice, a sleeve for sliding over a limb, etc. Other embodiments andvariations will be apparent to the reader and these describedembodiments are provided as non-limiting examples only.

FIG. 3A is a perspective view illustrating the stretching movement ofskin treatment units according to an example. The figure shows an array108 of skin treatment units 112 or applicators applied to a flat surface300. The number of skin treatment units 112 has been given forillustration purposes only and it could be a larger or a smaller numberthen what is illustrated. Skin treatment unit 112-3 has been displacedrelative to adjacent unit 112-2 in the directions indicated by arrow 304(i.e., unit 112-3 would move in the opposite direction from or relativeto unit 112-2) opening a gap 308 wider than the gap between units 112-1and 112-2. The length and flexibility of joint 114 as well as the sizeof joint nests 312 determine the magnitude of the displacement orstretch. Joint 114 could be a dog-bone type joint that facilitates suchmovement. Springs 316 could operate to apply in course of treatmentcertain tension or stretch to array 108 reducing the gap between theskin treatment units 112 and further attaching the skin treatment units112 to the skin and upon completion of a treatment session to returnskin treatment units 112 to their initial position. In one example,joint 114 can be made of a resilient material extending the magnitude ofthe displacement. In such joint implementation, the joint is subject toa stretch sufficient to support the desired magnitude of thedisplacement extension and return skin treatment units to an initialposition.

Skin however has a complicated topography and to conform to thetopography of the treated skin segment, each of the skin treatment unitscould have a number of rotational, torsional, and linear movementfreedoms. FIGS. 3B and 3C are simplified illustrations of an array ofskin treatment units applied to a concave surface 328 and a convexsurface 332, such as segments of skin according to an example. Each ofthe skin treatment units 112-1 through 112-3 of array 108 has a freedomof rotation as shown by arrows 336 and 340 (FIG. 3B) and arrows 342 and344 (FIG. 3C) with respect to an adjacent unit. These rotationalfreedoms facilitate array 108 conformance to the topography of thetreated skin segment and in particular to a concave skin segment 328 anda convex skin segment 332. Displacement of skin treatment units 112along joint 114, as explained above could further improve conformance ofarray 108 to the topography of the treated skin segment.

FIGS. 3D and 3E are simplified illustrations of an array of skintreatment units applied to an uneven segment of skin according to anexample. Each of the skin treatment units 112-1 through 112-3 of array108 has a freedom of translational movement as shown by arrows 346 and348 (FIG. 3D) and arrows 352 and 354 (FIG. 3E) with respect to anadjacent unit. These translational movements are in different planes,which for simplicity of the explanations are shown as perpendicularplanes. These planes are also different from plane 300 (FIG. 3A)although translational movements indicated by arrows 346 and 352 couldbe in plane 300, but at an angle to translational movement 304.

FIGS. 3F and 3G are simplified illustrations of an array of skintreatment units applied to an uneven segment of skin according to anexample. Each of the skin treatment units 112-1 through 112-3 of array108 has a freedom of rotational movement as shown by arrow 356 (FIG. 3F)and arrow 360 (FIG. 3G) with respect to an adjacent unit. Theserotational movements are in a plane different from planes in whichrotational movements indicated by arrows 336, 340, 342, and 344 takeplace (FIGS. 3B and 3C).

Joint 114 (FIG. 1 and FIG. 3) could be a dog-bone type joint thatfacilitates the described above movements. Joint 114 is subject to astretch sufficient to support these translational and rotationalmovements between skin treatment units 112. Other types of joints suchas Cardan joint, Hooke joint, resilient elements, and other similarelements facilitating at least two degrees of rotational movement,translational movement and some of the stretch between the adjacentunits could also be used. In addition, rather than utilizing joints tocreate the flexibility of the array, the individual units can be mountedto a flexible substrate which would allow any or all of the aforementioned movements. In addition, the array can be created asillustrated in a single dimension, or the array can also be expanded toinclude two or more rows of individual units by employing any of thejointed or mounted techniques described herein as well as othertechniques.

To summarize, array 108 could conform to the topography of the treatedskin segment since each of the skin treatment units 112 possesses atleast two rotational movements. Additional translational or linearmovements of each of the skin treatment units 112 could furtherfacilitate the ability of array 108 conforming to the topography of thetreated skin segment. The dog-bone type joint, or a similar jointsupporting spatial movement in almost any direction in space withrespect to the adjacent skin treatment unit also helps in conformingarray 108 to the topography of the treated skin segment.

Reference is made to FIG. 4, which is a non-limiting example of asimplified side view of a skin treatment unit 112. Skin treatment unit112 is illustrated in this example as including a housing 404, whichincludes a hollow interior or cavity 408 formed inside of housing 404.Cavity 408 includes an aperture or outlet located in the wall of theskin treatment unit (i.e., such as at a first end 412 or elsewhere), toconnection nipple 428 to fluidly interface with a source of negativepressure such as for example, a vacuum pump 120 (FIG. 1) or a source ofpositive air pressure, which could be ambient atmospheric air pressureor a higher pressure produced by pump 124 (FIG. 1). A suitable valvecontrolled by the control unit 104 or splitter card 144 could simplifythe communication. A flexible hose (not shown) may connect between firstend 412 of skin treatment unit 112 and sources of negative pressure 120and positive air pressure 124. A rim 416 terminates the second end ofskin treatment unit 112. Rim 416 could have a width similar to thethickness of walls 420 of skin treatment unit housing 404; it couldterminate by a gasket or other material that has a surface 424 that issubstantially the same size as the rim 416 or, in other embodiments, asurface that is substantially larger than walls 420 and/or the rim 416can be utilized. Connectors 432 and 436 schematically shown asrectangles to simply illustrate their existence, facilitate delivery ofdifferent skin treatment energies from energy sources 124 to the treatedsegment of skin. It should be appreciated that any of a variety ofconnectors can be used for this interface.

In use, surface 424 of rim 416 is applied to a treated skin segment andas such, the surface of the skin segment mated with the surface 424operates to seal the hollow interior or cavity 408. The size of cavity408 could be, as a non-limiting example, 20×40 or 40×80 mm in size.Surface 424 of walls 420 could be flared outwardly to increase contactarea with the surface of skin to provide a better seal between surface424 and the skin. Operating the skin treatment unit 112 includes theapplication and release of vacuum pressure or negative pressure tocavity 408 of the skin treatment unit 112 through the valve, connectingnipple or nozzle 428. Such operational sequence generates a back andforth massaging movement of the treated skin volume to which the surface424 of rim 416 of the cavity is being pressed. Surface 424 of rim 416could be coated with a low friction coating to enhance massaging of thetreated skin.

In a non-limiting example, the release of the vacuum pressure to cavity408 of the skin treatment unit 112 (which facilitates in the back andforth massaging movement of the treated skin volume against the rim ofthe cavity) can be assisted by venting the cavity to the surroundingambient air. The venting could be done through the outlet connectingnipple 428. Alternatively positive air pressure may be delivered throughoutlet connecting nipple 428 or through another conduit or nipple (notshown). Such operation of skin treatment unit 112 would further enhancethe intensity of the massaging movement. Control unit 104 (FIG. 1) couldset the sequence, intensity and duration of application of the selectedtype of air pressure and vacuum to cavities 408.

According to an example as illustrated best in FIG. 5, energy to skinapplying elements are located on the inner surface of walls 420 ofhollow interiors or cavities 408. Energy delivery elements could be suchelements like RF electrodes 508, ultrasound transducers 512 (FIG. 5),light emitting objects such as Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) 516 or laserdiodes, optical fibers conducting laser light into the cavities, andother elements delivering different types of skin treatment energy tothe skin. A skin temperature sensor 524, such as a thermistor, athermocouple or a non-contact sensor such as an optical pyrometer asnon-limiting examples, could be located in the hollow interior or cavity408. The temperature sensing elements 524 can also or alternatively belocated at other locations in the cavities or on the rim to get asensing of skin temperatures at different locations. In another example,the cavity or parts of the cavity and/or the energy delivery surfacescan be made of thermally conductive materials. During the treatmentprocedure, these parts made of thermally conductive material come to athermal equilibrium with the skin. Temperature sensors can be insertedinto these parts made of thermally conductive materials and can giveindication of average skin temperature over these areas, which is usefulfor treatment control. Numeral 312 (in FIG. 3) and illustrated aselement 520 in FIG. 5 refer to nests or a receptacle for acceptingdog-bond type joints 114 or similar joints connecting between individualskin treatment units 112 of array 108 (FIG. 1) and facilitating the atleast two degrees of rotational movement and two translational movementsin different planes between skin treatment units 112 such that theirspatial location can conform array 108 to the topography of the treatedskin segment.

Reference is made to FIG. 6, which is a cross section view of a skintreatment unit of FIG. 5 at the line L-L. Valve 604, which could be suchas a valve disclosed in Patent Cooperation Treaty PublicationWO2010/007619 by the same inventor and assigned to the same assignee andincorporated by reference above, is an assembly of a plate 608 andplunger 612, with spring 620 and a stopper disk 624. Alternatively, thevalve 604 could be a solenoid valve or other valve mechanism. Plate 608and plunger 612 of valve 604 have a freedom of linear movement in theaxial direction as indicated by arrow 628. When the source of negativepressure 120 is applied to the valve 604, a negative force or vacuum iscreated within the hollow interior or cavity 408 such that if the rim ofthe skin treatment unit is pressed against the surface of the skin, avolume of skin is drawn into the cavity 408 forming a skin protrusionshown by broken line 632. The protrusion pushes plate 604 and plunger612 with stopper disk 624 in the direction indicated by arrow 628A untilit closes outlet connection nipple 428. As the negative pressure incavity 408 falls, the protrusion recedes restoring the fluid/airconnection with vacuum pump 120 (FIG. 1) thereby again opening the valve604 to allow the application of the negative pressure. This repeatedaction of valve 604 regulates the level of vacuum pressure in the cavityand thus, the magnitude of the protrusion of skin being drawn into thecavity. Other valve 604 structures such as two mated cones or two matedspheres are also anticipated.

According to one example, RF electrodes 508 could be located on theexternal surfaces of the skin treatment unit such as for example,surface 424 (FIG. 7). According to one example, RF electrodes 808 (FIG.8) can extend beyond the inner surface of the cavity walls 420, sealingedges 424 of which could be flared outwardly to provide extended RFenergy delivery surfaces and apply RF energy to heat not only thetissues within cavity 408, but to adjacent skin tissue about to be drawninto the cavities as well. According to one example, RF electrodes 508could be located almost along the entire perimeter surface 424 (FIG. 7).

FIG. 9 is a simplified illustration of RF electrode connections andoperation according to an example. Array 108 is applied and fixed to alarge segment of skin 900 such that it conforms to the large segment ofskin topography. Vacuum pump 120 (illustrated in FIG. 1) generates anegative pressure within the hollow interiors or cavities 408 of skintreatment units 112 of about −0.1 bar to −0.9 bars, as a non-limitingexample. The negative pressure or vacuum draws individual skin volumesinto cavities 408 of skin treatment units 112 of array 108 and formsskin protrusions 632 within the cavities 408. As skin protrusion 632grows in size, it occupies a larger volume of the cavity 408, andspreads in a uniform way inside of the cavity. Control unit 104(illustrated in FIG. 1) activates the supply of skin treatment energy tothe RF electrodes only when a firm contact between the skin protrusion632 and the RF electrodes 508 is established. The proximate electrodes508 located on the inner surfaces of hollow interiors or cavities 408 ofadjacent skin treatment units 112 are connected together (FIG. 9B) by aconnection 904 and switching done independently and symmetrically foreach of the cavities. Such connection of adjacent RF electrodesincreases the effective surface of the electrode and facilitateshomogenous heat in the treated skin segment distribution. The back andforth massaging movement of the skin (FIG. 12) further contributes tohomogenous heat within the skin distribution and prevents formation of“hot spots.” Control unit 104 or splitter card 144 (FIG. 1) couldcontrol the RF energy supply to RF electrodes and the RF electrodesswitching process. To avoid erroneous or the inadvertent supply of RFenergy to the skin, a hardware interlock of RF delivery to RF electrodescould be implemented. Protrusion signal generated by valve 604 (FIG. 6)operative in each of cavities 408 could serve to activate/de-activatethe supply of RF energy and also increase the treatment process safety.

One of the applications of the present array is the massaging of largesegments of skin. FIG. 10 is a schematic illustration of a subject thatwears array 108 according to an example. The subject lies on a massagebench 1004. Array 108 is applied to a large segment of skin, forexample, to the abdomen of a treated subject and attached to the skinwith the help of mount 208. The mount is sized and shaped to couple andfix array 108 to a treated skin segment. Mount 208 could be a belt typemount. Proper cables and tubing could be employed to connect the arrayto control unit 104 and each of the skin treatment sources. Since beltmount 208 couples and fixes array 108 to a treated skin segment, thecaregiver maintains mobility and his hands are free. The caregiver couldconcurrently be involved in additional activities without affecting thetreatment process.

Although shown as a one dimensional array 112, apparatus 108 couldinclude arrays which are two dimensional arrays or matrix type arraysand arranged in a variety of patterns.

FIG. 11 is a schematic illustration of a subject that wears a similararray according to an example. Array 1108 is similar to array 108. Itincludes a plurality of skin treatment units 112 and is configured to beworn on a limb, in this case a leg, of the treated subject. In a similarmanner the array could be configured to be applied to a large segment ofskin and treat or massage the lower or upper back, chest or othersegments of the treated subject body. Proper cables and tubing could beemployed to connect each skin treatment unit of the array to controlunit and each of the skin treatment sources. Since array 1108 is coupledand fixed to a treated skin segment, the caregiver maintains mobilityand his hands are free. The caregiver could concurrently be involved inadditional activities without affecting the treatment process.

As shown in FIG. 11, more than one array could be used to treatsimultaneously or according to a pretreatment protocol a plurality oflarge skin segments of the treated subject. For instance, in FIG. 11,the array 1180 is illustrated as providing treatment to the upperportion of the subjects leg, while array 108 including skin treatmentdevices 112 connected mount 208 treats the torso.

FIG. 12 is a schematic illustration of a massaging action of an arrayaccording to an example. Array 108 is applied and fixed to a largesegment of skin 1200 such that it conforms to the topography or contourof the large segment of skin. Vacuum pump 120 (illustrated in FIG. 1)generates a negative pressure within the hollow interiors or cavities408 of skin treatment units 112. As a non-limiting example, the negativepressure is about −0.1 bar to −0.9 bars. Each of the cavities 408 isindividually controlled and connected to vacuum pump 120 and as suchvacuum pressure could be supplied simultaneously to all of the cavities408 or according to a selected treatment protocol to a number ofcavities 408. The negative pressure or vacuum draws individual skinvolumes into cavities 408 of array 112 and forms in appropriate cavitiesskin protrusions 1204. As skin protrusion 1204 grows, it occupies alarger volume of cavity 408, and spreads inside the cavity andeventually pushing the valve 428 closed by moving plunger 508. Adjacentor more remotely located skin treatment units are subject to similarsequential application and release of vacuum. This sequentialapplication and release of vacuum to the cavities 408 of the skintreatment units 112 generates suction that draws and releases volumes ofskin into the cavities generating in respective cavities skinprotrusions 1204. The volumes of skin drawn and released are smallerthan the treated skin segment 1200 to which array 108 is applied andfixed. The sequential application and release of the vacuum pressuregenerates (as shown by arrows 1208) a back and forth massaging movementof at least a portion of the large skin segment against the flared rims416 of the skin treatment units 112. Sequential application of thevacuum pressure alone achieves or imparts the massaging movement of skinto a large segment of skin. Additional positive pressure produced by apump 124 (as illustrated in FIG. 1) to a cavity when the vacuum phase isfinished can enhance skin movement out of the cavity and thereforeenhance the massage action. No other mechanical actuators and/or anymoving parts are used in these illustrated embodiments. The massagingmovement of skin could be applied simultaneously to a large segment ofskin or according to a selected skin massaging protocol.

Skin massaging imparts on the skin a mechanical massaging energy.According to an example of the method additional types of skin treatmentenergy could be coupled to a large segment of skin 1204 concurrentlywith the application of vacuum pressure and massage. Such skin treatmentenergy could be energy heating the skin. As a non-limiting example, theenergy may include RF energy, ultrasound energy, microwaves energy, andlight energy. Different forms of energy according to different skintreatment protocols could be concurrently applied in each cavity and indifferent cavities.

Reference is made to FIG. 13, which is a schematic illustration of amassaging action of an array combined with application of skin treatmentenergy according to an example. Safety of the application of the skintreatment energy to a subject's skin is a paramount requirement in everyaesthetic and medical energy based treatment. Firm contact betweenenergy to skin applying elements, which could be RF electrodes 508 orultrasound transducers 512 and protrusion 1204 facilitates good energytransfer, avoids formation of hot spots on the RF electrodes, and otheradverse effects. Such contact conditions exist only when skin protrusion1204 sufficiently fills cavity 408. Sensing of protrusion magnitude (orstatus) could provide feedback to control unit 104 that controls one ormore sources of skin treatment energy 124 supplying RF energy toelectrodes 508. Valve 604 could send such “protrusion status signal” tocontrol unit 104 (FIG. 1) when the volume of skin sufficiently fills thecavity as required for safe skin treatment energy application orcoupling. Alternatively, optical, resistive, capacitive, inductivesensors or any other types of sensors that is suitable for the direct orindirect detection of the protrusion magnitude could be implemented.

When firm contact between skin protrusion 1204 and electrodes 508 isestablished, control unit switches ON skin treatment energy source 124(FIG. 1), which could be an RF generator as a non-limiting example. RFgenerator could be a single generator supplying RF energy to the skintreatment units according to a desired skin treatment protocol or itcould be a plurality of RF generators with each generator providing RFenergy to a corresponding skin treatment unit. RF energy is supplied todrawn into cavity 408 skin volume or protrusion 1204. RF induced currentheats the skin volume 1204 and produces or enhances the desired skintreatment effect, which could be adipose tissue reduction, body shaping,skin tightening and rejuvenation, contraction of collagen fibers andother aesthetic skin treatment effects. Firm contact between electrodes508 and skin protrusion 1204 could be detected during the RF energytreatment by monitoring skin impedance between electrodes 508. The lowerthe skin impedance at the beginning of treatment, the better is thecontact between the RF electrodes and the skin forming protrusion 1204.

Commonly RF frequency could be in the range from 50 KHz to 200 MHz.Typically, RF frequency is from 100 KHz to 10 MHz or from 100 KHZ to 100MHz or, alternatively, from 300 KHz to 3 MHz. The RF power could be inthe range from 0.5 W to 300 W. Typically, the range of the RF power isfrom 1 W to 200 W or from 10 W to 100 W and it could be coupled into theskin in a pulsed or continuous mode or some other form of modulateddelivery. RF induced current heats the individual skin volumes 1204. Theheating could be non-homogenous and different skin volumes could beheated to different and sometimes not desired temperatures. The controlunit is operative to govern the source or sources of skin treatmentenergy, which in this example are one or more RF generators. The controlunit sets a skin treatment protocol and synchronizes the skin treatmentprotocol with the massaging movement, such that it homogenizes the skintreatment energy distribution across the large segment of skin. Inaddition housings 404 of skin treatment units 112 are made of thermallyconductive material that further enhances and homogenizes heatdistribution across the large segment of skin.

In one example, skin treatment units 112 in addition to RF electrodes508 could include energy to skin applying elements operative to applyother or additional types of skin treatment energies. Such energiescould be for example, ultrasound energy applied to the protrusion orvolume of skin drawn into cavity 408 by transducers 512 (FIG. 4) orLight energy applied by LEDs 516 or other devices.

Further, in one example, control unit 104 (FIG. 1) switches ON skintreatment energy source 124, which could be an ultrasound generator,only when firm contact between skin protrusion 1204 and transducers 512is established. Ultrasound energy is supplied to the skin volume 1204that has been drawn into cavity 408. In one example, ultrasound could beused to preheat the treated skin volume 1204 and reduce its resistance,such that induced RF current will preferentially pass through preheatedskin volume 1204 segments and enhance the desired skin treatment effect,which could be adipose tissue reduction, body shaping, skin tighteningand rejuvenation, contraction of collagen fibers and other aestheticskin treatment effects. Firm contact between transducers 512 and skinprotrusion 1204 could be detected during the ultrasound energy treatmentby depositing on the transducers a thin conductive layer not attenuatingthe ultrasound energy and monitoring skin impedance between thetransducers.

In one example, moderately focused ultrasound is used to impart amovement on the adipose tissue cells constituents that have a differentdensity. The movement causes rupture of the cell walls and destroys theadipose tissue cells.

Typically, the range of ultrasound energy frequency is from 500 kHz to 5MHz. Typically, the range of ultrasound power density is 0.1 W/cm2 up to5 W/cm2.

The described above apparatus and method could be used for aesthetictreatments such as adipose tissue reduction, body shaping, skintightening and rejuvenation, contraction of collagen fibers and otheraesthetic skin treatment treatments.

It should be noted, however, that other and additional combinations ofskin treatment energy and massage could be used to for skin treatment.These other forms of energy and massage are within the scope of thepresent disclosure and the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus comprising: an array of connectedskin treatment units, each of the individual skin treatment units in thearray comprising a cavity, wherein the application of a vacuum pressureto each individual skin treatment unit is individually controlled by acontroller communicating with a valve located inside a cavity of a skintreatment unit, each valve regulating the level of the vacuum in thecavity based at least in part on the volume of skin protrusion insidethe cavity in the skin treatment unit and the skin treatment unitadapted to be applied to a skin segment together with each of the otherskin treatment units and comprising: a housing defining the cavity thatfluidly communicates with a common source of negative pressure, with oneside of an interior of the housing terminated by a rim adapted tofacilitate a sealing of the cavity when the skin treatment unit isapplied to the skin, the dimensions of the defined cavity adapted to besufficient to accommodate a volume of a skin segment drawn into thedefined cavity by the source of negative pressure to create a skinprotrusion and wherein the skin treatment units are adapted such thatrepeated application and release of the negative pressure to adjacentskin treatment units generates a back and forth massaging movement ofthe treated skin volume against the rim of the cavity and against rimsof adjacent skin treatment units resulting in a massaging movement of atleast a portion of the volume of skin against at least one rim; in eachcavity, an energy to skin applying element to apply a skin treatmentenergy to the respective skin protrusion; and associated with eachcavity, a temperature sensor configured to detect a temperature of therespective skin protrusion; wherein the controller is further configuredto individually apply the skin treatment energy to the skin protrusionbased on the temperature of the respective skin protrusion; wherein theconnection between at least two individual skin treatment units isjointed so that each of the skin treatment units of the array ofindividual treatment units has at least two degrees of rotationalmovement with respect to an adjacent skin treatment unit so that thearray is adapted to conform to the various topographies of the skinsegments.
 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the jointbetween at least two adjacent skin treatment units of the array isconfigured to allow at least two translational movements with respect tothe adjacent skin treatment unit and wherein said translationalmovements are in different planes.
 3. The apparatus according to claim1, wherein the joint between at least two adjacent skin treatment unitsof the array is configured to support spatial movement of the skintreatment units in almost any direction in space with respect to eachother.
 4. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the joint betweenat least two adjacent skin treatment units of the array can be stretchedthereby allowing movement of the adjacent skin treatment units withrespect to each other.
 5. The apparatus according to claim 3, whereinthe joints between at least two adjacent skin treatment units render thearray operative to treat at least one of a group of skin segmentsconsisting of abdomen, limbs, shoulder, lower back, and upper back. 6.The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the joints between at leasttwo adjacent skin treatment units of the array renders the array avariable length array.
 7. The apparatus according to claim 6, whereinthe variable length array further comprises a variable length mountadapted to be sized and shaped to couple and fix the array to a treatedskin segment such that the array can be worn.
 8. The apparatus accordingto claim 1, wherein the rim of the defined cavity is coated with a lowfriction coating to enhance the massaging movement of the treated skinsegment.
 9. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the skintreatment units includes a valve located inside the cavity, the valveregulating the pressure level of the vacuum in the defined cavity andthus affecting the magnitude of the protrusion drawn into the definedcavity.
 10. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the skin volumedrawn into the defined cavity of the skin treatment unit is released byat least one action selected from a group actions comprising releasingof the negative pressure, reduction of the negative pressure, ventingthe defined cavity and applying a positive air pressure to the definedcavity.
 11. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising aprocessing unit configured to govern the operation of at least thesource of negative pressure and at least one skin treatment energysource in accordance with a skin treatment protocol.
 12. The apparatusaccording to claim 11, wherein the skin treatment protocol is at leastone of a group of protocols consisting of a continuous delivery of theskin treatment energy and pulse delivery of the skin treatment energy.13. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the controller isfurther configured to control each of the skin treatment units andsynchronizes the delivery of the skin treatment energy and theapplication of vacuum pressure to homogenize the skin treatment energydistribution across a large segment of skin.
 14. The apparatus accordingto claim 13, wherein the housing of the skin treatment unit isconstructed of a thermally conductive material to further facilitate theskin treatment energy distribution and homogenization across the largesegment of skin.
 15. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein theenergy to skin applying elements apply to the protrusion at least one ofa group of skin treatment energies consisting of RF energy, ultrasoundenergy, microwave energy, and light energy.
 16. The apparatus accordingto claim 15, wherein the energy to skin applying elements are at leastone of a group of elements consisting of RF electrodes, ultrasoundtransducers, LEDs, incandescent lamps, Xenon lamps and lasers.
 17. Theapparatus according to claim 15, wherein RF electrodes of adjacent skintreatment units are located on the inner surfaces of hollow cavities ofadjacent skin treatment units are connected together by a connection andswitched independently and symmetrically for each of the cavities toincrease an effective electrode surface.
 18. The apparatus according toclaim 1 and wherein the skin temperature sensor is one of a group ofsensors consisting of a thermistor, a thermocouple, or and a noncontactoptical sensor.
 19. The apparatus according to claim 18, wherein theskin temperature sensor is located in one of a group of locationsconsisting of a defined cavity and on a rim of the defined cavity. 20.The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein massaging movement of thelarge segment of skin simplifies and reduces caregiver effort byreducing an amount of movements of the array by the caregiver.
 21. Theapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller is at least oneof a processor unit, a splitter card or a controllers each attached toan individual skin treatment unit.
 22. A device configured to provideautomated massaging of a skin segment, the device comprising: a housingthat defines a cavity, an interface to the skin segment and a pressuresource interface, the interface to the skin segment includes a rimadapted to be applied to the skin segment and, which when pressedagainst the skin segment is configured to substantially seal the definedcavity such that negative pressure individually controlled through thepressure source interface allows pressure to be applied to draw aportion of the skin segment into the defined cavity and forms aprotrusion, and release of the negative pressure allows the portion ofthe skin segment to at least partially vacate the defined cavity; aninterface to a source of skin treatment energy; one or more surface onthe housing adapted to come in contact with the skin protrusion andconnectivity between the interface to the source of skin treatmentenergy and the one or more surface such that skin treatment energy canbe applied to the skin segment through the one or more surfaces; atemperature sensor configured to detect a temperature of the skinprotrusion; and a controller configured to control the application ofthe skin treatment energy based on the temperature of the skinprotrusion; wherein the pressure source interface includes a valvelocated inside the cavity, the valve regulating the level of the vacuumin the defined cavity based on the volume of the protrusion, such thatas the volume of the protrusion increases, the negative pressure isreleased and as the volume of the protrusion decreases, the negativepressure is applied and, wherein the device includes a dog-bone typejoint for connecting the device to additional devices but, that allowsmovement of the connected devices relative to each other to facilitateconformation of the connected devices to the topography of the skinsegment.